STA, 25 November 2019 - The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) has reported Matej Tonin, chair of the parliamentary commission overseeing intelligence services, to law enforcement for having disclosed intelligence, the public broadcaster TV Slovenjia reported on Monday, citing an unofficial source.
Tonin, leader of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi), is accused of releasing intelligence as part of a public section of a classified report his commission had compiled about SOVA's activity in Slovenia's preparations for border arbitration with Croatia, TV Slovenija said.
Tonin had said the report contained no intelligence, but SOVA maintained it contained the intelligence it had sent to the Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services as part of the latter's inquiry into the circumstances leading to Croatia withdrawing from the border arbitration process.
The commission had examined the circumstances of the 2015 wiretaps of communication between Slovenia's agent in the border arbitration procedure and the Slovenian member of the panel of arbiters. The scandal led to Croatia declaring the procedure compromised and withdrawing from it.
After a months-long inquiry, the commission adopted the 150-page report on 8 November and made 16 redacted pages public a few days later.
According to TV Slovenija, SOVA has also notified the president of Slovenia, the prime minister and the parliamentary speaker of the Tonin case.
Tonin took to Twitter to say it was "bizarre" that SOVA had reported the commission to the law enforcement after the report cleared it of having done anything wrong.
"The report shows the Slovenian government and SOVA did not cheat in arbitration. It proves there is no Slovenian conspiracy against the Croats. The report strengthens Slovenia's position."
He attributed SOVA's move to Damir Črnčec, state secretary at the prime minister's office and SOVA's former boss, implying it was another of his smear campaigns.
